Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A quote from the 1965 NBC documentary entitled "Who Shall Live?" narrated by Edwin Newman. In those early days of dialysis technology, only a few patients could be treated, and even then at great cost. The demand greatly exceeded the capacity to treat patients, and some means of selection was needed. The highly controversial decision-making process had anonymous committee members deliberating over the merits of each case.

The documentary examined the troubling questions underlying decisions by the committee.